since his death they created the christian aguilar search and rescue foundation. n's brother, alex, is embracing an opportunity that has a bittersweetness to it. he just started his freshman year at the university of florida in gainesville. >> i'm going through all the stuff that he went through. i started remembering how he was during that time. i guess now i've always followed his example in school and now that example is gone, so i have, i guess, just follow my own route. >> reporter: erica will be there, but moving ahead has been hard for her. she can't forget that fleeting moment when she fell in love with christian and then he was gone just like that. >> we weren't dating that long. we had the death talk. what happens if something happened tomorrow and he got hit by a car and he looked at me, he said, i don't know what i would do without you. i don't know what i would -- i looked at him and i was like, i'll tell you what you're going to do. you're going to find somebody and you're going to live your life. >> reporter: do you ever get up in the morning just sh

. >> another sharply focussed classmate in their circle was pedro's good buddy, christian aguilar. >>through pedro. he was awesome. he was funny and he was nice and we instantly were good friends. >> christian was the soccer player who hit the books. the son of columbian immigrants became the all-american boy. video games, kanye west rap in his ears and plans to become a doctor. >> it sounds as though to understand christian, you have to realize how academically motivated he was. >> oh, yeah. he was very driven. it wasn't like his family was pushing him. it wasn't -- it was just that he wanted to make them proud. >> reporter: these three high-achieving musketeers, christian, erica and pedro, all doubled at prom together and posed for this snapshot in the waning days of high school. >> i mean, did you guys do a limo and the whole thing? >> we did. we all showed up. we took plenty of pictures. you know, it was fun. >> reporter: for a lot of american kids, it was for these three, graduation from high school is one of those big paths crossing in the woods a lot of what are you going to do